You can help honor those Lakewood residents who go “above and beyond” to keep their home and yards looking beautiful.

There are three ways to honor your home or a neighbor’s home in the Lakewood Beautiful program:

Beautiful Home Award. This is the city’s most traditional award, which has honored hundreds of Lakewood homes over three decades. This award recognizes the front-facing exterior and landscaping of a home, displaying exceptional care and pride of ownership.

Jackie Rynerson “Transformation Award.” This will honor homeowners who have remodeled the front-facing exterior and landscaping of their property over the past three years. The rejuvenation need not have been expensive or elaborate, but something that improves or enhances the overall property. To be eligible, the bulk of the improvements must have been done or overseen by the current homeowner, not a prior homeowner. Nominations must include both "before" and "after" photos to demonstrate the transformation (digital photos may be uploaded to the online nomination form). Homes being marketed for sale are not eligible.

Jackie Rynerson was an original Lakewood resident who helped organize her fellow citizens to form the City of Lakewood in 1954. Jackie served as a city council member from 1978 to 1990, and she created the original Lakewood Beautiful to inspire and honor Lakewood homeowners.

Water-Wise Award. This honors beautiful homes nominated in one of the first two categories who deserve extra recognition for landscaping that utilizes water-conserving irrigation devices and plantings.

How to nominate a home

You can nominate your property or that of a neighbor by going to www.lakewoodcity.org/LakewoodBeautifulForm or by calling City Hall at 562-866-9771, extension 3123. Nomination forms will also be in city utility bills over the course of March and April.

The nomination deadline is May 10, 2019.

After the nomination deadline, photos are taken by a professional photographer of the street-facing portion of each home and yard. A panel of judges then reviews the photos and determines if the home will be recognized. Winners will be notified and honored at a Lakewood Celebrates reception in the fall.

What does it take to be Lakewood Beautiful?

Lakewood Beautiful judges aren’t looking for the most expensive or elaborately landscaped homes. Past winners’ homes were distinguished not just by attractive style, but for displaying exceptional care and pride of ownership, such as:

• Neat, clean and well-maintained exterior• Landscaping design of front yard and parkway in harmony and balance with home• Good use of plant variety, texture, color• Attention to detail• Overall consistent care of property and landscaping

Water-wise winners are selected from among the Beautiful Home and Jackie Rynerson "Transformation Award" honorees. Excellent candidates for this award would be homes that include many of these features in their front yards:

• Plants grouped according to water needs• Drought-tolerant or native plants• Use of low-water-use irrigation system• Minimal turf in landscaping• Water-permeable ground covering and hardscape